So why walk?

The Civil Rights Movement has produced many inspirational people who can be said to influence the reason for, and development of, advocacy. The following is a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt from as long ago as December 1948:

“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person: the neighbourhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”

Just think about it.

Amnesty International was founded in the early sixties on the belief in the power of ordinary people to make extraordinary change. In 1961, British lawyer Peter Benenson wrote a newspaper appeal, ‘The Forgotten Prisoners’, calling for an international campaign to protest against the imprisonment of men and women for their political or religious beliefs.

Within six months, what started as a brief publicity effort was being developed into a permanent, international movement, speaking up for the human rights of prisoners of conscience. As Amnesty grew its focus expanded to take in not just prisoners of conscience, but other victims of human rights abuses – such as torture, ‘disappearances’ and the death penalty – throughout the world.

Since the late 1970s, mental health services have been transformed by the growing influence of service user and family organisations. Through strong advocacy, these organisations have gained a voice in legislation and policy for mental health service delivery.

Organisations representing service users and family members, although divergent in their historical origins and philosophy, have developed some important, overlapping goals: overcoming stigma and preventing discrimination, promoting self-help groups, and promoting recovery from mental illness (Frese, 1998).

It’s not surprising that independent advocacy has flourished in Britain over the last twenty five years and has developed as a rich and diverse tapestry. Guess what though? There was no great advocacy plan. And certainly no architect of this development.

Advocacy has often resulted from a scramble to create something independent and responsive to people’s needs. In other words it has been reactive rather than organised. It has evolved into a movement that is now recognised as a valuable commodity by individuals who use it, services and government alike.

And that’s exactly what we are doing through the UK Recovery Federation. And our public display of this will be the UK Recovery Walk 2010 in Glasgow on September 25th.

To be continued….

Click here for further information on the UK Recovery Walk 2010